Magazine launches, closures both down in the first half of the year

Published on July 13, 2010.

New York—Magazine launches were down in the first half of the year, but so were magazine closures. Ninety magazines were introduced in the first half of this year, down more than 50% from the 187 new titles debuted in the same period in2009, according to MediaFinder, an online database of U.S. and Canadian publications.

So far this year, 87 magazines have folded, less than one-third of the 279 shuttered in the first half of 2009. Similarly, 16 print magazines converted to online-only in the first half of this year, compared with 43 during the same period of last year.

MediaFinder said that 35 b-to-b titles folded in the first half of this year, including Appliance and Printing News. In the first half of 2009, 100 b-to-b magazines closed.

Seventeen new b-to-b titles have been launched this year; in the first half of last year, 46 new titles appeared. Also seven b-to-b brands—including American Machinist—have abandoned print, opting for online-only so far this year. In the first half of last year, 16 b-to-b magazines abandoned their print editions for online-only.